Why K-pop girl groups like Twice, Blackpink and Red Velvet are game-changers in a boy band-led industry
- These top girl groups made breakthroughs in K-pop by shattering beliefs that they cannot generate notable profits through concerts abroad
- Female followers love their image of strong, modern women, and their songs on music streaming platforms regularly outperform those by boy bands
By Dong Sun-hwa
K-pop record labels have long been thought to see boy bands as more lucrative than girl groups because they often attract loyal female followers eager to open their wallets for concert tickets and albums.
In terms of global appeal, phenomenal boy band BTS’ 2019 “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” world tour played to a total audience of more than 2 million, while heavyweight girl group Blackpink’s “Kill This Love” world tour drew around 260,000 concertgoers.
Billboard reported that BTS grossed about 136 billion won (US$117 million) through ticket sales, while Touring Data said Blackpink earned 44.2 billion won.
And when it comes to album sales, BTS topped South Korea’s 2019 Gaon music chart, selling more than 3.7 million copies of their sixth mini-album Map of the Soul: Persona. Another all-male group, Seventeen, came next with their third studio album, An Ode, selling 850,000 copies.